Sunday, October 31, 2010

Multitextuality in the Homeric Iliad

The Witness of Ptolemaic Papyri

Graeme Bird examines a small group of early papyrus manuscripts of Homer’s Iliad, known as the Ptolemaic papyri, which, although fragmentary, are the oldest surviving physical evidence of the text of the Iliad, dating from the third to the first centuriesBCE.

These papyri have been described as “eccentric” or even “wild” by some scholars. They differ significantly from the usual text of the Iliad, sometimes showing lines with different wording, at other times including so-called “interpolated” lines that are completely absent from our more familiar version.

Whereas some scholars denigrate these papyri because of their “eccentricity,” this book analyzes their unusual readings and shows that in fact they present authentic variations on the Homeric text, based on the variability characteristic of oral performance.

To Mega Biblion: Book-Ends, End-Titles, and Coronides in Papyri with Hexametric Poetry

by Francesca Schironi

A systematic and chronoloical investigation into the nature and development of end-titles in papyrus rolls and codices of hexameter poetry from the III century BC through the VI century AD. The bulk of the evidence for presentation of hexametric verse derives from Homeric papyri (51 papyrus copies), although Hesiod's Theogony, Works & Days, and Shield(two), and Oppian's Halieutica likewise supply data (one). For comparative purposes the author also provides a sampling of end-titles in non-epic genres. The discussion of individual papyri and summation of the results are rich and informative. Includes bibliographical references, charts with comparative statistics, and pertinent indices.

A University of Cincinnati-based journal devoted to research on papyri is due out Nov. 1. That research sheds light on an ancient world with surprisingly modern concerns: including hoped-for medical cures, religious confusion and the need for financial safeguards.

Photos By: Andrew Higley What’s old is new again. That’s the lesson that can be taken from theUniversity of Cincinnati-based journal, “Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists,” due out Nov. 1.

UC's Peter Van Minnen, editor of the Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists.

The annually produced journal, edited since 2006 by Peter van Minnen, UC associate professor of classics, features the most prestigious global research on papyri, a field of study known as papyrology. (Papyrology is formally known as the study of texts on papyrus and other materials, mainly from ancient Egypt and mainly from the period of Greek and Roman rule.)It’s an area of research that is more difficult than you might think. That’s because it was common among antiquities dealers of the early 20th century to tear papyri pages apart in order to increase the number of pieces they could sell.Below are five topics treated in the upcoming 2010 volume of the “Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists.” The five issues resonate with our own concerns today.
IOU cabbageKatherine Blouin from the University of Toronto publishes on a papyrus text regarding a Greek loan of money with interest in kind, the interest being paid in cabbages. Such in-kind interest protected the lender from currency inflation, which was rampant after 275 AD – and no doubt also provided a convenient way to get groceries.Hippo strapped for cash Cavan Concannon from Harvard University edits a Greek letter in which a priest of the hippopotamus goddess, Thoeris, asks for a money transfer he is waiting for. Such money transfers were for large amounts and required mutual cooperation between two banks in different places that had sufficient trust between them to accept one another’s “checks.”“American Gladiators” ca. 300 ADSofie Remijsen of Leuven University in Belgium discusses a Greek letter in which the author details his visit to Alexandria in Egypt, at a time (ca. 300 AD) when the Roman Emperor Diocletian was also visiting the city – and demanding entertainment. The letter’s author, an amateur athlete, was selected to entertain the emperor in “pankration” (Greco-Roman wrestling with very few rules). He did poorly in this event and so challenged five others to do “pammachon,” which literally translates to “all-out fight,” with even fewer rules. The letter’s author fought five “pammachon” rounds, and it appears he won first prize.Alternative medicine: Don’t try this at homeMagali de Haro Sanchez from Liège University in Belgium discusses magical texts from Greco-Roman Egypt that use technical terms for fevers (over 20), wounds, including scorpion bites and epilepsy. The “prescriptions” (magical spells) were as difficult-to-decipher as any written in modern medical scrawl. Here is a translation of an amulet against epilepsy written on gold leaf: “God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob, our God, deliver Aurelia from every evil spirit and from every attack of epilepsy, I beg you, Lord Iao Sabaoth Eloai, Ouriel, Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, Sarael, Rasochel, Ablanathanalba, Abrasax, xxxxxx nnnnnn oaa iiiiiiiiii x ouuuuuuu aoooooooo ono e (cross) e (cross) Sesengenbarpharanges, protect, Ippho io Erbeth (magical symbols), protect Aurelia from every attack, from every attack, Iao, Ieou, Ieo, Iammo, Iao, charakoopou, Sesengenbarpharanges, Iao aeeuuai, Ieou, Iao, Sabaoth, Adonai, Eleleth, Iako.” Spelling counts: Orthodoxy and orthography in early ChristianityAn essay by William Shandruk from the University of Chicago examines the ways in which Christ and Christian are spelled in Greek papyri. Chrestos, which was pronounced the same way as Christos, was a common slave name meaning “good” or “useful.” Confused by this, representatives of the Roman government often misspelled Christ’s name “Chrestos” instead of “Christos” meaning “anointed” or “messiah.” They also called the early followers of Christ “Chrestianoi” rather than “Christianoi.” The early Christians themselves went with the Romans here and often spelled their own name “Chrestianoi,” but they stuck to the correct spelling “Christos” for Christ's name.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Brigham Young University and the American Society of Papyrologists invite advanced graduate students and junior faculty in Classics, Ancient History, Egyptology, Religious Studies, and related disciplines, to participate in a papyrological summer institute in Provo, Utah from 20 June through 29 July, 2011. The institute's theme is Roman Egypt. The primary material will consist of Greek and some Coptic literary and documentary papyri from Graeco-Roman Egypt. The objective of the seminar is to teach participants how to read and use papyri and to provide them with the kind of practical experience that will enable them to make productive use of papyrus texts in their own research.

Admission to the seminar is by application. Enrollment is limited to ten participants. Applications are welcome from qualified individuals without regard to institutional affiliation. No prior experience in papyrology is expected, but a high degree of competence in ancient Greek is essential. A full-time commitment to the activities of the summer institute is required of all participants, who are expected to be in residence in Provo for its duration. Participation in the seminar is free of charge and not for credit. Participants will neither be graded nor issued a transcript. The American Society of Papyrologists will provide a certificate of participation to those completing the seminar. Housing will be provided at no charge to participants. The seminar will provide cash stipends of $1,000 to cover other expenses.

Applications, including a completed application form (which can be accessed at http://atig3016.byu.edu/rtm_global/ApplicationForm2011.pdf ), current curriculum vitae, and two letters of recommendation, will be considered starting January 20, 2011 until all places are filled. Early application is encouraged. Application can be made electronically to Dr. Roger Macfarlane at macfarlane@byu.edu.

For the reconstruction of early Christianity, the lives of early Christians, their world of ideas, their ways of living, and their literature. Early Christian manuscripts - documents and literary texts - are pivotal archaeological artefacts. However, the manuscripts often came to us in fragmentary conditions, incomplete or with gaps and missing lines. Others appear to form a corpus, belong to an archive, or are connected with each other as far as theme or purpose are concerned. The present collection comprises of nine essays about individual or a set of certain manuscripts. With their essays the authors aim to present special approaches to early Christian manuscripts and, consequently, demonstrate methodically how to deal with them. The scope of topics ranges from the reconstruction of fragmentary manuscripts to the significance of amulets and from the discussion of individual fragments to the handling of the known manuscripts of a specific Christian text or a whole archive of papyri.

Chapter Seven Papyri, Parchments, Ostraca, and Tablets Written with Biblical Texts in Greek and Used as Amulets: A Preliminary List (Theodore de Bruyn)

Chapter Eight The Egyptian Hermas: The Shepherd in Egypt before Constantine (Malcolm Choat and Rachel Yuen-Collingridge)

Chapter Nine The Babatha Archive, the Egyptian Papyri and their Implications for Study of the Greek New Testament (Stanley E. Porter)
Index ............................................................................................................. 239

The first volume of the Biblioteca di Studi Antichi series was published in 1974. A Pisan enterprise, BSA publishes primarily research in Classical Antiquity conducted at the University of Pisa by the Faculty and the alumni of this old and prestigious institution. Since its very beginnings, the series also included original works by scholars from other institutions in Italy and abroad.

Maren Schentuleit, Günter Vittmann (ed.),"Du hast mein Herz zufriedengestellt ...". Ptolemäerzeitliche demotische Urkunden aus Soknopaiu Nesos. Corpus Papyrorum Raineri Bd. 29.Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter, 2009. Pp. vii, 203; xiv p. of plates. ISBN 9783110207415. $154.00.Reviewed by Peter C. Nadig, Freie Universität Berlin
M. Schentuleit and G. Vittmann have produced a high quality edition of nine demotic papyri from Soknopaiu Nesos (CPR XXIX). These Ptolemaic documents were found in 1891, partially acquired by Erzherzog Rainer three years later, and are now in the National Austrian Library in Vienna. Except for text 8 (= P. Wien D 6846 = P. Zauzich 535-549), none of these papyri dating from 142 to 42 BC has been published before. The editors concentrated on some of the poorly preserved or less legible papyri, with a view to providing a firm foundation for future scholars (VII). The book's title "Du hast mein Herz zufriedengestellt" ("you have satisfied my heart") is from a formula often found in demotic documents.